Chapter 1951 - Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1951. Damn, It’s Good to See You. (1)

KWAAANG!

The Beggar Union disciples’ dog-beating staffs blocked the Demonic Cultists’ path. Internal force collided with internal force. Swinging their staffs with a boldness that seemed to leave no thought for what came after, the beggars roared as though urging one another on.

[Dog-Beating Staff. Tagubong. 타구봉(打狗棒). The traditional staff associated with the Beggar Union. The name literally means “staff for beating dogs.”]

“Ah...”

Just as the tension suddenly left Jwa Gohak and he faltered, someone seized him by the shoulder and pulled him away.

“There’s no time to hesitate. We can’t hold them for long!”

At those words, Jwa Gohak abruptly came back to himself. He had no idea how the Beggar Union had learned of the situation and rushed all the way here, but as the man said, there was no time to hesitate.

“Hurry, we have to flee...”

Jwa Gohak hastily turned to hurry the civilians onward, only for his mouth to close on its own. A swarm of beggars had latched onto the refugees’ carts and were lifting them bodily to carry them through.

“Move aside. No, get out of the way, you old fool!”

“You gone insane? That desperate to get yourself killed? Who the hell’s stealing your cart? Get the hell out of the way!”

Their mouths were unbearably foul, but their intentions were unmistakable. These Beggar Union disciples had not come here to fight the Demonic Cult. They had come to evacuate the people of Beijing.

Jwa Gohak pressed his lips tightly together.

Those who stood at the highest place in the Central Plains had cast aside the people and fled merely to save their own lives. Yet those most despised in the Central Plains had risked their lives and rushed here to save those very people.

Who, then, was noble? And who was lowly?

“Hey!”

Once again, a rough voice struck Jwa Gohak’s ears.

“Think later and run now! I told you, we can’t hold them!”

“Understood!”

Jwa Gohak answered without looking back. He knew as well. The courage of the beggars who had rushed here deserved every praise, but courage alone couldn’t solve everything.

Moreover, these men weren’t even among the Beggar Union’s elite. They couldn’t stand against the Demonic Cultists. At most, all they could do was throw away their lives to buy time. Whether such a deed could ever be called “at most” was another matter.

“Sahyung!”

“Help the refugees! We’re getting out of here!”

“B-But...!”

“Did you not hear me?!”

The startled officials turned and ran toward the refugees. Jwa Gohak moved after them without looking back. The urge to turn around again and again tormented him, but looking back at the Beggar Union disciples now would not be respect.

Getting every civilian out of the city even one moment, even one instant sooner. That was how he could save even one more of their lives.

“Well now. That young fellow’s got a good head on his shoulders.”

Jang Jae, the Sluggish Bear Beggar, head of the Beggar Union’s Hebei Branch, let out a quiet chuckle.

[Sluggish Bear Beggar. Man-ung-gae. 만웅개(慢熊丐). Man = slow; Ung = bear; Gae = beggar.]

[Jang Jae. 장재(張宰).]

Then again, a man like that was probably the only sort who would remain behind in Beijing after everyone else had fled, struggling to save the people.

“No, wait. Does that make him an idiot?”

Well... What did it matter?

The Sluggish Bear Beggar looked ahead. He saw the Demonic Cultists mercilessly tearing the beggars apart. He had heard that the martial prowess of each individual Demonic Cultist was nothing particularly remarkable, but looking at them now, that seemed to have been complete nonsense.

Or perhaps the Demonic Cult had changed over the course of a hundred years.

Either way, nothing would change. Only one fate remained to him now.

“Tch. Why did I even bother coming here?”

He could simply have pretended not to hear. Had he brushed it aside by claiming the orders had become tangled somewhere along the line, even those above him could hardly have blamed him too harshly. If the Beggar Union punished a man for ignoring an order that amounted to “go there and die,” what kind of Beggar Union would that be? That would be the Demonic Cult.

And yet the Sluggish Bear Beggar was here. Unlike the man who was forever called a slow-moving bear, he had come faster than anyone else in the world.

Perhaps that was why he was a beggar. When it came time to secure his own advantage, he was never quick enough. Yet when there was only loss to be suffered, he moved with astonishing speed.

“Uwaaaaaaah!”

Without a trace of lingering attachment, the Sluggish Bear Beggar charged forward.

“I’ve lived long enough already!”

He was a Regional Branch Chief of the Beggar Union. A rank above a Branch Chief.

[Regional Branch Chief. Jibujang. 지부장(支部長). Head of a regional branch, ranking above a Branch Chief (Buntaju, 분타주(分舵主)), who oversees a local branch.]

He had risen to a position held by only a handful of people beneath all Heaven, what more was there to desire?

Even if he fought desperately to survive while looking after his own interests, he would never rid himself of the guilt lodged in one corner of his heart, not even at the moment of death. If that was the case, he would rather die proudly here.

The Sluggish Bear Beggar’s dog-beating staff began to dance, leaving jade-green trails in its wake.

❀ ❀ ❀

“That’s it!”

A cheer burst from the officials as they pushed the final cart beyond the city gate. It wasn’t as though no one had been lost. But everyone who had survived had now been sent beyond the walls.

“Lead them away! Run, right now!”

“Yes, sahyung!”

The last of the carts rolled forward, raising clouds of dust behind them.

Jwa Gohak wanted to say that it was over now. But he knew it wasn’t. The Demonic Cultists’ target wasn’t the city. It was the people. Naturally, they would give chase, and at this rate, it wouldn’t be long before they caught up.

“Hey, official.”

Just then, a voice tinged with laughter came from behind him.

“Don’t waste your time thinking about foolish things. Get going.”

“...And you...”

“You already know, don’t you? Those demon bastards aren’t going to stand there and watch after the people they were chasing make it out of the city. Someone has to hold the rear.”

It wasn’t that Jwa Gohak hesitated because he failed to understand. The question was why the Beggar Union disciples had to be the ones to take on that role.

“Wouldn’t it be better for an official like you to survive than a beggar? You look like someone of fairly high rank. Surely you’ve still got plenty of work to do.”

“That’s...”

“Now, stop wasting time and go.”

The beggar who had spoken to him spat on the ground, then grinned.

“Don’t worry about us. A man becomes a beggar because he was born under a rotten fate, doesn’t he? If your lot in life is to freeze to death by the roadside, then dying in a fight like this counts as a good death.”

“What do you mean, a good death?”

“It means dying well, you ignorant beggar bastard!”

“You’re the ignorant one. What kind of death is good? Every death is bad.”

“Ha...”

Leaving the beggars at the rear to bicker among themselves, those who had been moving the carts began blocking the city gate. As though they had no intention of letting a single Demonic Cultist pass beyond the walls before every last one of them was dead.

“Even so, I can’t leave this entirely to you. This is...”

As Jwa Gohak tried once more to stop them, the beggar who had been joking only moments before suddenly raised his foot and kicked toward Jwa Gohak’s solar plexus.

“H-hey! What are you doing?”

Jwa Gohak evaded the strike and turned toward him in bewilderment. The beggar’s face had gone cold.

“Has a young official like you lost his mind? Do you think we’re doing this just to save your miserable life?”

“.....”

“We’re letting you go because one more commoner is likely to survive with you lot leading them than with us. If that weren’t the case, who would give a damn whether some official bastard like you lived or died?”

Jwa Gohak bit down hard on his lip.

“If you understand, then get lost. Stop indulging in meaningless pride and go do what you’re supposed to do.”

With that, the beggar turned away as though he had nothing more to say.

Staring intently at that unyielding back, Jwa Gohak cupped his hands in a formal salute and bowed. With the utmost respect. With all the reverence he could possibly offer.

“I won’t forget this.”

“I told you to get lost.”

Only that harsh voice came back to him. Yet Jwa Gohak did not raise his head for some time. Then, the moment he finally straightened, he sprinted after the fleeing civilians with all his strength.

“What a strange fellow. Doesn’t act much like an official.”

“There ought to be officials like that. Otherwise, this country would’ve fallen long ago.”

“True enough.”

The beggars chuckled as they trudged toward the city gate.

“Think they’d notice if one or two of us slipped away from the rear?”

“Then run. No one’s stopping you.”

“I was only saying.”

The beggars drew their dog-beating staffs and stood their ground, their eyes blazing. This road would not open before their lives came to an end.

❀ ❀ ❀

“Hmm.”

The Heavenly Executioner surveyed the scene before him with an odd look in his eyes.

Beggars who had appeared out of nowhere were standing against the cultists. No, to call it “standing against them” didn’t quite fit. They were quite literally throwing their lives away before the cultists.

Even though they knew they would die. Even though they knew full well they couldn’t stop them.

“Strange.”

It was undeniably true that, during the great war of the past, those beggars had repeatedly hindered the Cult. There had been no way to escape the eyes of the beggars scattered throughout All Under Heaven, and because of that, the Cult had been forced to reveal its routes of advance as plainly as if they had announced them.

But that was different in nature from what he was seeing now. The beggars of the past had merely been a nuisance. They had never tried to block their way like this, even going so far as to throw away their own lives.

“Interesting.”

What was especially interesting was that they had anticipated the Heavenly Executioner’s movements and sent support to Beijing. In the past, they would not have tried to hinder the Cult until after it had already entered Hubei.

Someone was seeing through his movements.

That fact made the Heavenly Executioner profoundly displeased. At the same time, it gave him a peculiar sense of pleasure.

“But in the end, nothing will change.”

In the past, he might have grown sick of it. But the Heavenly Executioner of the present was satisfied. No matter how poorly matters unfolded, could they possibly compare to those days spent waiting for an uncertain tomorrow in that hellish land?

That was why the Heavenly Executioner was so generous now. Generous enough to stand quietly and watch the filthy beggars who had suddenly blocked his path.

“Ooooooooh!”

At that moment, a tremendous roar erupted from behind the Heavenly Executioner. When he turned, he saw the Imperial Army who had descended from the walls charging toward this place. Whether they had finally broken through the cultists or found another route, he couldn’t tell.

“Where are you looking, you demon bastard?”

“.....”

Before the Heavenly Executioner, a beggar covered in wounds came staggering forward. One leg dangled as though it might tear off at any moment, and his entire body hung in tatters beneath countless wounds, yet he still poured out fighting spirit.

“You won’t take a single step before my life runs out. Even if I can’t kill you here, you won’t lay so much as a finger on those who passed through the gate.”

The Heavenly Executioner looked upon the cultists entangled with the beggars, and beyond them, the beggars blocking the city gate with their own bodies.

“Why are they doing that?”

“....Can’t you tell by looking? They’re doing it to stop you.”

“Stop? Me?”

A low chuckle escaped the Heavenly Executioner. This was why the Central Plains was so interesting. Things happened here that couldn’t even have been imagined in that barren land.

“Didn’t I tell you? You won’t take a single step before you kill every last one of us.”

“Is that so?”

The Heavenly Executioner spoke calmly, as though it were nothing of consequence.

“Then I need only do exactly that.”

“What?”

KWAAAAAAAAAA!

In that instant, demonic qi burst violently from the Heavenly Executioner’s flesh. The power that had surged outward as though about to explode abruptly began to rotate, whipping into a storm around his body.

The spiralling demonic qi gathered around the Heavenly Executioner’s hand. Sensing what was about to happen, the Sluggish Bear Beggar reflexively turned his head.

“N-No.”

“Try to stop it if you can.”

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!”

The Heavenly Executioner extended his hand. At the same moment, a vortex of demonic qi shot forward, brushing past the Sluggish Bear Beggar as it flew toward the city gate. It swallowed everything between him and the gate. Beggars, cultists, even the abandoned carts. The force of demonic qi crushed them all without distinction, then swept away even the Beggar Union disciples blocking the gate in the blink of an eye.

KWAAAAAAAAAA!

The walls shook as though they were about to collapse. When the remnants of demonic qi finally dispersed, the only thing the Sluggish Bear Beggar saw was a world stained red.

Nothing. There was nothing left.

The Beggar Union disciples he had led had been annihilated in a single move. Just one move. They hadn’t merely been killed. They had been erased, leaving behind not even the slightest trace that they’d ever existed in this world.

Was this truly martial arts? Could this truly be the work of a human being?

“Ah...”

The Sluggish Bear Beggar collapsed where he stood.

“Did you say I wouldn’t lay a finger on them?”

He stared at the Heavenly Executioner through eyes that had lost their light. His world was turning ash-grey.

“I promise you this. Not one of them will survive. All because of those worthless words you uttered.”

“Ugh...”

The Sluggish Bear Beggar tried to scream in fury. But that voice, little more than a final struggle, never made it past his lips.

A man whose head had been severed could say nothing at all.

Thud.

The Heavenly Executioner looked down wordlessly at the Sluggish Bear Beggar’s head where it had fallen to the ground, then jerked his chin forward.

“Chase them.”

The cultists burst through the city gate like beasts.

After watching them for a moment, the Heavenly Executioner slowly turned and looked toward the Imperial Army, who had already come to a halt. As they faltered and shrank back, he spoke leisurely.

“There’s no need to worry. I won’t leave without taking care of you.”

A smile resembling that of a demon spread across his lips.

❀ ❀ ❀

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